If there’s one thing I’ve learned in a rather short time when it comes to model railways, it’s that it is probably not the best idea to buy mixed track.
In our first haul, we bought a starter train set (Hornby) which contained enough track to build a simple oval with a siding. For an ambitious (and naïve) beginner, that’s already not enough. So I bought a track pack from a different manufacturer (Peco), with the assurance from the salesperson that it would all work fine together.
And it does, to a degree. However, the hassle it’s causing is enough for me to somewhat regret that decision.
Firstly, the tracks differ ever so slightly in sleeper colour and spacing. It’s noticeable under good light, but probably not a major hurdle if you use the pieces in separate sections that are only sparsely joined. A bigger issue is that the rail joiners (aka fishplates) on the Peco track pieces are very loose, which not only causes the tracks to slip apart easily when not pinned down. It also regularly leads to lost fishplates when joining Peco pieces to Hornby pieces. For some reason, the joiners sit much more tightly on Hornby track, so when you pull those apart, the joiner tends to stay on the Hornby piece.
In practice, this mainly causes me annoyance while I am laying track without pinning it, in order to try out different layouts. The tracks slip apart often, sometimes by themselves. Later, when the track is fixed to the baseboard or underlay, the main issue will be the difference in sleeper material. How much impact that will have, I am not sure yet.
